‘The Walking Dead’: Will Rick And Michonne Ever Become Richonne?

In AMC’s The Walking Dead, Rick Grimes (played by Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne’s (Danai Gurira) relationship started off rocky. At first Rick kept her at arms length as he tried to work out her true intentions, and Michonne kept her cards held tightly to her chest, leaving fans convinced she had only one facial expression: the scowl. But over the seasons, Rick and Michonne’s relationship has deepened. Could they eventually become more than friends in The Walking Dead? Could they become Richonne?

WARNING: Spoilers for both the TV and comic book series of The Walking Dead are contained within this article. Please proceed with caution if you want to avoid potential spoilers.

For many fans of The Walking Dead, there seems to be a great need to have Rick and Michonne shipped as Richonne. Just heading to Twitter and typing in the hashtag #Richonne is a general indication of how much Walking Dead fans want this relationship to happen. But what’s the likelihood? Let’s have a look at what the people behind the Walking Dead franchise have to say about Richonne.

The Walking Dead showrunner, Scott M. Gimple hints at the possibility of exploring Rick and Michonne’s relationship but was more interested in talking about their journey together rather than their future when the Hollywood Reporterasked him about the chance of Richonne.

“They have done things for each other that’s familial or deep, deep, deep friendship. But the way that they speak to each other — for example in [the season five finale] — represents how far these people have come with each other. The fact that they reached that bedroom in Alexandria when they had that conversation where Rick admitted that he had a gun and was going to give it to her. I think they have an incredibly intimate relationship right now. Where that goes, who knows? I think there’s something to be said about those two characters’ journeys right now.”

In the Walking Dead comic books, Rick Grimes ends up in a relationship with Andrea (played by Laurie Holden in the TV series). However, with the demise of Andrea in the TV show, there has been a gap left in regard to Rick’s love life. After all, it can’t just be all going crazy and beheading zombies in the post-apocalyptic world. Surely there is some downtime that can be filled with intimacy? So far, in the Walking Dead TV series, there seems to be an opening for Rick and Alexandrian Jessie (Alexandra Breckenridge), but, considering Rick killed her husband in the season 5 finale, this tentative relationship could now be on the decline. Will this lead to an opening that Michonne could fill? After all, as Scott M. Gimple pointed out, they know each other so well. It seems only likely that their relationship will evolve at some stage — so long as neither of them get killed by walkers.

But what about the actors who play the characters Rick and Michonne? What do they think of the possibility of becoming Richonne? Andrew Lincoln implied to the Hollywood Reporter that fans will have to wait until Rick and Michonne are the last two standing in The Walking Dead before they take their relationship to the next level.

“There’s a kind of jokiness to them. They’re both warriors, but she’s one of the few people who can take the piss out of Rick, which is great. She has the arched eyebrow kind of smart-ass remark [persona], and I love playing those scenes. But also she has a great point of contact. There aren’t that many people in the apocalypse, but when everybody is dead and it’s just me and her left, let’s get it on!”

And, as for Danai Gurira, she is definitely keen on the idea of Richonne when she spoke to Entertainment Weekly earlier this year.

“They’re friends, you know. And people want that. I love that folks want Michonne to get some. I always say that. I say to my boss, ‘Michonne’s a nun. She don’t give none, she don’t get none.'”